JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOSTDance/performance number 176 by Legs & Co______________________________________________________________
Performed byRandy Vanwarmerreaching number 8 in the UK charts______________________________________________________________
Original broadcast date23/08/79 Duration of dance/performance 3.50 mins
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Dancers - Gill, Lulu, Patti, Pauline, Rosie, Sue________________________________________________________________
The Legs & Co attendance register so far after 176 dances

Sue 159
Pauline 158
Rosie 156
Patti 155
Gill 152
Lulu 151
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A link to the dance http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22v2sj_legs-co-just-when-i-needed-you-most-totp-tx-23-08-1979-06-09-1979_creation________________________________________________________________
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Legs & Co share the billing here with the late Randy Vanwarmer with his classic tear-jerking ballad, always a guaranteed smooch back in the day for me with girls at the teenage disco. Randy did look rather geekish it has to be said, but he delivered the song well and one cant help being impressed by its sound even after all these years. A song all about his lady buggering off, hey, that rings a bell my end !

FC meanwhile cant resist the literal route and i cant really blame her. For these occasions the obligatory suitcases with mandatory sad faces are the order of the day. Yes i know the performance itself is nothing special, but for me it matches the mood of the song perfectly so well done to FC for that.

As for scoring and DOTD. Well this is one of those border-line cases, shall i offer it up or not (a problem i will have a more frequently in future times). We hardly see any decent close-ups of our gals, and they all look much of a muchness in their reds, blues and yellows. I guess the fact Randy's mush is in shot for a lot of this will also detract from the score rating for a lot of you, but maybe its worth bearing in mind that in this instance Legs were just doing a job. Basically providing the eye candy and propping up Randy to make him more appealing on the eye.

DOTD, really tough and almost impossible. But im going for `Gill`, she does seem to specialize in the melancholy face.

Rating, i will give it `7 out of 10`, but a lot of that is for the song which i think is a bit of a classic tune.

Oh just one more thing, at 3 minutes 50 seconds, this is very long indeed for a Legs & Co performance and slots into second place behind the much maligned `Let Em In` which is 6 seconds longer.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

I like the lilt to the song, but oh what a drip... is it any wonder that his lady left him!?
The girls give stirling support, although I should have liked to have seen more close-ups, in particular of the two ladies looking a little blue, but as a supporting routine it fits the bill. With nary a standout moment it is impossible to select a Dotd but for the routine I'll go a generous 6.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

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This discreet routine, in muted colours for a sad song, is sympathetic and respectful of the singer. Randy Vanwarmer isn't the most magnetic of performers however, so even for the non-fan more prominence for the girls would've been welcome. The decamped lady 'packed in the morning' and 'left in the rain', hence the cases and everyday dresses and hats. Why the circa 1940s style of the clobber, which gives it a Lena-esque strait-lacedness, is another matter. In Georgia and again with luggage the girls will wow us in inclement weather to a melancholy number, but it has to be admitted that approach just wouldn't suit this artist.

It's only now that I can appreciate how lovely this song is. The singing here isn't bad but the music doesn't match the top-class arrangement on the record. Only the middle eight comes close and it's made all the better by coinciding with undivided Legs & Co. The dancing both with and around the cases is graceful. The most eye-catching move is the deft and tricky looking turn on one foot. But with Van The Man the vision mixes leave something to be desired. Particularly where the girls are mixed together with his head.

The camera-work scuppers any chance to shine for some of the girls. DOTD is Gill, who perhaps never looks more beautiful than when she's doing sad. That said, she'd have that lovely smile on her face at Ryan's borderline decision to have DOTD nominations.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

This just doesn't work for me. Either Randy Vanwarmer should have performed unaccompanied or it should have been a full blown Legs & Co routine without Randy at all, or if he really needed support then one of the girls could have done a solo as Gill did with Johnny Mathis the following week. Instead we get a situation where there is just not enough camera time to make having a full troupe worthwhile.
On the positive side , the dresses while quite plain look nice and the choreography and facial expressions of the girls fit the melancholy song nicely. The suitcases must have been among the most cumbersome props that Legs ever danced with.
Had this been the 2nd Legs performance of the show it would have been more tolerable but as it was their only appearance, it just leaves me feeling short changed.
I'll give it 6 out of 10. Gill gets most of what camera time there is so is my DOTD.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

Is that the TOTPs orchestra up to their old tricks again?, it sounds like Randy's singing, accapello, his guitar sounds somewhat muted, anyways onto the important business:-
Legs & Co., are obviously just playing a support act here, & they never stray very far from the background, seemingly walking about in circles, carrying heavy suitcases, it just seems pointless, & yet Randy Vanwarmer doesn't even so much as make any fleeting glances over his shoulders at our ladies, who've left him, for whatever reasons, only they, & possibly Randy would've known about.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

I've never liked this song, I've always found it dull and insipid. Which I thought would prejudice how I view this routine - yet it doesn't.

Dancing around a suitcase is a delicate task, and Legs and Co do it elegantly and without a single one knocked over, so that's a strong sign of skill and performance. The spins are delightful, as are the ballet-style leg movements. I like the primary colour scheme, even if it conforms to the regular pairings of Sue/Lulu, Patti/Pauline and Gill/Rosie. As others have observed, more close-ups would be nice, but the routine still works without them.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

Morbid subject matter with legs slightly vaselined (no fellas not like that) giving muted colours and a slightly blurred appearance, almost as if Randy Vanwarmer (ha what a name) has almost forgotten what they look like (no such thing here - eh chaps).

Crafted picking up and putting down suitcase inspired routine alas not much cop elsewhere, would of liked more Legs.

DOTD: that girl in red - Rosie (for that longing look or looking at stage right for sudden exit)

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

I quite like the ladies absent mindedly twirling around their suitcases and I've admitted before that I'm always a bit vulnerable to these subdued "hat and coat and I'm only possibly sexy" performances but I must say Mr Vanwarmer and his redundant instrument cool this one off considerably for me. Also this is tailor-made for close-ups and these do not materialize, as others have noted. Overall I think 6.5/10 is about right for me and I agree with the Gill supporters for DotD

Some Dancers who gave a good time, broke all the rules, played all the fools, yeah yeah yeah they blew our minds

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

I do like the song but as OGW said it should have either been a Randy solo or full Legs routine. Not enough close ups of the girls for me. Gill stands out a bit for me so DOTD goes to her be default but really nothing to get too excited about. Rating 5. The song will return to TOTP in February 1981 courtesy of a reggae version by Barbra Jones!

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

In this routine we see the ladies only occasionally. Because they are only illustrating this song. While the artist of the song, one Randy Vanwarmer was live in the studio. The routine itself is literally to this sad song. The ladies are dressed in forty style dresses and carrying suitcases. That the ladies danced around and passing from hand to hand. This routine hardly had any close up of our ladies. Just a nice routine for me.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

Legs & Co supply a much needed support for poor Randy who unfortunately died 10 years ago. Not much to say about except that I quite liked the song in 1979, not so sure about it now. Impossible to choose a DotD.

Re: JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU MOST [August]

What a wet lettuce this boy is. And no matter how genuine his heartfelt song of abandonment, it’s very hard to find sympathy with. My stomach is starting to churn after 3 minutes of sticking with this sentimentalised slop. I don’t think the song is as bad as it is made out to sound. Image is everything they do say and unfortunately the song while an attempt at tender emotion is made unlistenable by the complete lack of star quality of Randy Vanwarmer…who has a silly name to go with his silly love song, which even McCartney would cringe over a little, with this interpretation? Englebert Humperdink too has a daft name but he can sing these songs like a man, so that the audience finds respect for him, no matter how downed by his woman he maybe.

What little we see of Legs & Co in long-shot view, looks rather nice, dressed in their long dresses as 1940’s Girls to give us some twirls. But its one dance that belongs in Yawnville and that is possibly where Legs & Co are destined to travel to with their suitcases at hand ?